Walker finds Greenway good for the soul

Sunday

Aug 22, 2010 at 3:15 AMAug 22, 2010 at 6:44 AM

By JAKE O'DONNELLjodonnell@fosters.com

ELIOT, Maine — Some walk for pleasure, some walk for exercise, and some walk for their spirit. Karen Terzano is walking for all the above and so much more on her 740-mile pilgrimage that recently took her through southern Maine and the Seacoast.

Terzano, 59, of Ellsworth, Maine, came walking through the Berwicks and Eliot Friday on her journey along the East Coast Greenway, a trail system that runs from the easternmost point in Maine to the southernmost point of Florida. She's walking the northern portion of it, and after beginning Aug. 1 she plans to finish her walk around Oct. 14 in New York City.

Terzano is a psychologist by trade with two doctorates, and was living in Costa Rica and later Vermont before moving to Ellsworth, Maine, in 2008. Terzano is a Zen Buddhist monk, and her faith has taken her on several important walks and pilgrimages like the one she's currently on. She has hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, and last year completed the El Camino pilgrimage from France to Santiago, Spain.

"When we were on the El Camino, a friend of mine who was with us died of a heart attack," Terzano recalled from the Indian Rivers Campground in Eliot, where she camped out in her one-person tent for the evening. "It really got me thinking. I'm not going to live forever, it's about time for me to give something back."

On Oct. 14, Terzano will be attending a "sesshin" (a Japanese word meaning "retreat") for intensive meditation in Garrison, N.Y. She decided she would walk the entire way there, and had heard of the East Coast Greenway when she was researching her hike along the Appalachian Trail.

"The Greenway is about 20 years old," Terzano said. "Seventy-five percent of it is still on-road, as I'm finding out during my walk. Only 25 percent of it is off-road, but eventually it's all going to be off-roads but it will still connect from town to town."

Terzano made some contact with Greenway officials, and they asked her if she would write about her experiences while on her walk. Using a GPS and Internet-enabled phone, Terzano has been blogging daily about her journey at weekendwalk.com as well as posting pictures.

On Aug. 1, Terzano took off from eastern Maine with her phone, Kindle, tent, sleeping pad, two pairs of shorts (one with zip-on legs), two T-shirts, one long-sleeve shirt, two sets of underwear, some food, two hiking poles, two bandannas, her credit card and some cash. She picks up new maps at mail drops at various locations along her walk (she'll be picking up her next one in Hampton).

She was hoping to walk 10 miles per day, but she's actually been walking at a 12-to-14-mile per-day clip, and that will likely shave days off the 74-day journey she was expecting to take.

Terzano has been forced to rely on the kindness of strangers on many occasions in her trip already, and for the most part, she's finding people to be extremely generous and helpful with finding food and shelter for her.

"I'm telling them who I am and that I'm on a pilgrimage," she said. "Some of them offer me discounts. Some of them don't. Campgrounds are usually inexpensive enough that it's OK."

She added that it was easy to find places along the Appalachian Trail or El Camino that were willing to take in hikers because they are well-known trails. That's not the case with the East Coast Greenway. Sometimes she's had to resort to "stealth-camping," where she picks out a spot in the woods along the trail at night and camps out because "there's no one around to ask."

Terzano said she will have the opportunity to stay at Buddhist centers and churches, as well as other spiritual centers, along her journey.

So far, Terzano is very impressed with what she's seen from people and places in Maine.

"Along the rail beds I'm getting to see deer and cardinals and other wildlife so close to inhabited areas," she said. "It's been fascinating. I'm seeing plaques and learning things about the state I did not know about and would not have known about if not for this."

Walking through Saco recently, Terzano had to stop for an "au naturale" bathroom break. A police officer spotted her and asked what she was doing.

"She was far from upset for what I was doing," Terzano said. "I told her about my journey and she thought it was incredible. I told her how much I enjoyed Saco and she pulled out her card, wrote her home phone number on it and told me if I was ever back in the area to call her and she'd show me around. That's what I'm running into over and over and over again. It's amazing."

On Saturday, Terzano walked through Eliot and into Kittery, crossing the Route 1 bridge into Portsmouth.

From Portsmouth, the East Coast Greenway will take her down Route 1A to Hampton, where she'll be picking up her map for the trail through northern Massachusetts. She'll be passing through Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut before finishing up in New York.

Through the beauty she's witnessed, both naturally and through the kindness of fellow humans, Terzano is gaining the spiritual experience she was hoping for, one step at a time.